Gulfshore Life’s editors explore Southwest Florida

Pop Up Dining With Brian Roland

Jonathan Foerster

Crave Culinaire

Local chef/catering superstar Brian Roland has added another wrinkle to his food empire—pop-up dinners. We wrote about his plan last November in our annual New & Hot issue, but the concept went on hiatus during season as Roland and his team at Crave Culinaire were pushing all their energies into a demanding catering schedule.

The first of his dinner series, which will be held at surprise locations and with different ingredients, determined just days before the event, is June 28. And tickets are now on sale for this limited seating event.

At $160 per person, the minimum eight-course meal isn’t cheap. Considering that the price doesn’t include wine (which guests are encouraged to bring for themselves), this might be the most expensive per person dinner served in Southwest Florida. But it will likely be one of the more spectacular dinners as well, given Roland’s penchant for molecular gastronomy and his dedication to covering every angle of the experience. (His events often come with a professional DJ and professional photography. In fact, they ask guests not to shoot their own pictures, but instead share the images shot by Mila Bridger.)

Will it be worth the cost? It’s hard to say. We have become a food-obsessed region and this is a one-of-a-kind experience. How much are you willing to pay for that?

This page requires javascript. It seems that your browser does not have Javascript enabled. Please enable Javascript and press the Reload/Refresh button on your browser.